Ministry of Health, Botswana

On

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦?

Albinism is a medical condition in
which a person lacks or has limited pigmentation (melanin) of the skin, hair and/or eyes. There are many different types of albinism and the severity of the disease varies according to the type of genetic defect that has been inherited. However, the most common type is a complete absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes.

Affected individuals have:
•White or light yellow hair and white to pink skin which is extremely sensitive to sunlight.
•Light colored blue, grey or brown eyes, resulting in poor vision. The eyes may show continuous rapid movements from side to side and squinting due to sensitivity to
light.
•Over time sun exposure can induce skin discoloration including scaly pink or dark brown spots on the skin.

𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎 𝐋𝐀 𝐆𝐎 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐃𝐈 𝐋𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐖𝐄𝐓𝐒𝐄 𝐉𝐖𝐀 𝐆𝐎 𝐒𝐖𝐀 𝐌𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐀 (𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐎) 𝐋𝐄 𝐀 𝐓𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐀

Letsholo le, le itebagantse le bana botlhe ba dingwago tse di ko tlase ga botlhano le ba ba latelang;

🔹𝘽𝒂𝙣𝒂 𝒃𝙤𝒕𝙡𝒉𝙚 𝙗𝒂 𝒃𝙖 𝙩𝒔𝙚𝒓𝙚𝒏𝙜 𝙡𝒆𝙧𝒐𝙩𝒉𝙤𝒅𝙞 𝙢𝒐 𝒍𝙚𝒈𝙖𝒕𝙤𝒏𝙜 𝙡𝒂 𝒏𝙩𝒍𝙝𝒂 (𝙁𝒊𝙧𝒔𝙩 𝙍𝒐𝙪𝒏𝙙)
🔹𝘽𝒂𝙣𝒂 𝒃𝙤𝒕𝙡𝒉𝙚 𝙗𝒂 𝒃𝙖 𝙙𝒊𝙣𝒈𝙬𝒂𝙜𝒂 𝒕𝙨𝒆 𝒅𝙞 𝙠𝒐 𝒕𝙡𝒂𝙨𝒆 𝒈𝙖 𝙗𝒐𝙩𝒍𝙝𝒂𝙣𝒐 (0-59 𝒎𝙤𝒏𝙩𝒉𝙨) 𝒃𝙖 𝙗𝒂 𝒔𝙖 𝙩𝒔𝙖𝒚𝙖𝒏𝙜 𝙡𝒆𝙧𝒐𝙩𝒉𝙤𝒅𝙞 𝙠𝒂 𝒍𝙚𝒈𝙖𝒕𝙤 𝙡𝒂 𝒏𝙩𝒍𝙝𝒂 (𝙍𝒐𝙪𝒏𝙙 1).

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃

The Ministry through Botswana Public Health Institute (BPHI) is this week hosting a three-day workshop on One Health, a platform which seeks to among others, provide a collaboration forum and bridge a sector-specific capacity assessment tool.

When officiating at the ceremony, the Acting Secretary for Primary Health Care in the Ministry of Health Dr Bobby Kgosiemang affirmed Government’s commitment to operationalize One Health approach. He highlighted that Botswana is signatory to the 2008 Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment- an African policy framework that addresses the critical links between human health and the environment. And to that effect, in September 2025, Botswana’s leadership reaffirmed its commitment to the One Health agenda at the highest level, prioritising the fight against antimicrobial resistance, strengthening biosafety and enhancing zoonotic disease surveillance under the stewardship of the four One Health ministries: being the Ministries of Health; Lands and Agriculture; Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs - Botswana; and Environment and Tourism.

The workshop brings together participants from government sector and quadripartite partnership comprising World Health Organization Botswana (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘

𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐓𝐕 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐓 𝟖𝟑𝟎𝐏𝐌

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Yesterday afternoon, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬:

- Maokatumo Clinic
- Lerala Clinic
- Maunatlala Clinic
- Lotsane Clinic
- Khurumela Clinic
- Palapye Extension 3 Clinic
- Palapye Primary Hospital
- Kediretswe Clinic
- Seleka Health Post
- Gootau Health Post
- Machaneng Clinic
- Sefhare Primary Hospital
- Mookane Clinic
- Serowe District Warehouse
- Sekgoma Memorial Hospital
- Mahalapye District Hospital
- Mahalapye District Warehouse
- Airstrip Clinic
- Shoshong Clinic
- Kalamare Clinic

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝:

- Anti-epileptic drugs
- Blood sugar level regulation drugs
- Anti-asthmatic medicines
- Mental disorder drugs
- HIV/ AIDS Rapid test kits

Yesterday afternoon the Central Medical Stores received Antiretroviral (ARVs) syrup for children.

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬..

𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐧𝐎𝐏𝐕𝟐 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐏𝐕?

Our teams are on the ground and at selected vaccination sites in all districts. Please welcome them and allow them into your homes.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲:

🔹Your child’s vaccination card.
🔹Anyone at home to assist
🔹Questions if any- teams will explain the vaccine and answer concerns.

Together, we can keep Botswana polio free💪🇧🇼

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐨𝐬𝐞